Jayne W. Barnard

Honor
Groundbreaking academic work to support victim impact statements by victims of financial crimes

Business/Employer
Cutler Professor of Law, William and Mary School of Law
P.O. Box 8795
Williamsburg, VA 23185 (757) 221-3849

E-mail address
jwbarn@wm.edu

Education
BS, University of Illinois
JD, University of Chicago

Who was your most important mentor and how did that mentor impact your career?

Joan M. Hall, a partner in the law firm where I began my career, was a generous mentor who shared her time with young lawyers who wanted to learn how to be, like Joan, a good lawyer, a loving parent, an effective bar leader and an influential public citizen. Joan rose to the top of her game, was one of the first women to be recognized by the American College of Trial Lawyers, then “retired” to become the founding chairman of the Young Women’s Leadership Charter School in Chicago. She modeled grace under pressure every day. She also taught me the value of being over-prepared.

What do you consider your biggest professional accomplishment and why?

As a lawyer, I made some good First Amendment law on behalf of interesting clients. Some of my scholarship has influenced public policy – shaped legislation and guided judges in deciding some issues involved in securities fraud. But my greatest professional accomplishment is work I did while I was in the administration of Chicago Mayor Harold Washington. We came in as a “reform” administration and engineered some truly lasting reforms!

What is the best bit of advice you ever received?

Floss. Use sunblock. Don’t try to plan too far in advance.

How do you achieve a balance between your professional life and your personal life?

I’m still working on that. I am my father’s daughter.

If you hadn’t become a lawyer, what field would you have entered?

Something involving music or the arts. How great would it be to work for Wolf Trap or the Kennedy Center or the National Portrait Gallery?

What is your favorite book or movie and why?

My favorite film is probably An American President, because it depicts both virtue and pragmatism in politics, a rare combination. Ditto Dave. Ditto The Queen. As for books, Atonement is a perfect novel.

What are two facts about you that most people, including your closest friends, may not know?